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April 16, 2003

2003-083

Episcopalians: News Briefs

Anglicans and Lutherans cite significant ecumenical progress

(ENS/ELCA) During a 17-day "ecumenical journey" to Europe, a 
delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 
(ELCA) met with Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders to assess 
the progress of their ecumenical relationships.

Anglicans have made more ecumenical progress with Lutherans than 
with any other Christian tradition, said Bishop John Baycroft, 
director of ecumenical relations and studies for the Anglican 
Communion, during the group's visit to England. Yet there is 
some confusion over an array of regional and international 
agreements, he added.

The Church of England, for example, has entered into ecumenical 
agreements with the Lutherans in Germany (Meissen Declaration of 
1991), the Lutheran churches of Scandinavia and the Baltic 
region (Porvoo Declaration of 1992), and an agreement with the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church of France (Reuilly Declaration of 
1999).

In North America Anglicans and Lutherans in Canada established 
full communion with the Waterloo Declaration of 2001 and the 
Episcopal Church and the ELCA entered a similar relationship 
with "Called to Common Mission," effective in 2001.

"No one wants to stop the progress," Baycroft said during a 
discussion of the ELCA's adoption of a by-law that allows some 
ordinations of clergy by a pastor other than a bishop, regarded 
by many as a unilateral alteration of the CCM agreement. There 
have been four "exceptions" so far under the bylaw provision but 
more than 550 ordinations that comply with the terms of the 
agreement that ordinations are done by bishops. The Rev. Lowell 
Almen, secretary of the ELCA, said that such "anomalies" get a 
lot of attention and make people believe they are more common 
than they really are.

In a meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, the group 
raised the issue of participation by Lutherans in the Eucharist 
in Roman Catholic congregations, currently forbidden. Presiding 
Bishop Mark Hanson of the ELCA suggested that Anglicans and 
Lutherans join together to discuss Holy Communion and ministry 
with the Roman Catholics in a "trilateral" discussion. He 
pointed to the possibility of "limited Eucharistic sharing" 
between the two churches. 

"Event though there are still differences on the question of 
ministry, a convergence has been reached on basic principles 
which makes Eucharistic hospitality possible," said a recent 
statement from three prestigious European ecumenical research 
institutes--two Protestant and one Roman Catholic.

"We have come to appreciate more deeply the fellowship existing 
between Lutherans and Catholics which led to the Joint 
Declaration [on the Doctrine of Justification] in 1999," the 
pope told the delegation. "In that document we are challenged to 
build on what has already been achieved, fostering more 
extensively at the local level a spirituality of communion 
marked by prayer and shared witness to the gospel."

Anglican Indigenous Network calls for non-geographic 
province

(ENS) Among the resolutions passed by the Anglican Indigenous 
Network (AIN) at its meeting in Aotearoa (New Zealand) in early 
April was once calling for "the creation of a non-geographic 
province of the Anglican Communion for the Indigenous Peoples of 
the Pacific Rim."

Participants in the meeting said that membership in the network 
is based on a mission statement that underscores a commitment to 
the Anglican tradition "while affirming our traditional 
spirituality. We believe that God is leading the church to a 
turning point in its history and that the full partnership of 
indigenous peoples is essential," according to the statement. 
"Therefore we pledge to work together to exercise our leadership 
in contributing our vision and gifts to transform the life of 
the Christian community."

Following a traditional Maori welcome on the shores of Lake 
Rotorua, and a signal that the delegation was coming in peace, 
Bishop Whakauihui Vercoe said in a sermon that the guests should 
be "storytellers, value bearers, community builders and 
spiritual journeyers" whose voices contribute to the Anglican 
Communion. "This is our heritage and to act on this heritage is 
our ministry. It is a ministry of listening, of healing, and of 
caring."

Malcolm Naea Chun, secretary general of AIN, noted in his 
opening remarks that the network had shifted its emphasis to 
focus more directly on the issues and concerns of its 
constituents--especially youth, women, elders, clergy and 
theological education and training. Delegations from the Torres 
Strait Islands of Australia, Indigenous Peoples of Canada, 
Native Americans of the United States and Hawaii, and Maori 
delegates brought their regional concerns to the meeting.

Episcopal Media Center promotes new partnership in 
communications

(EMC)A new wave of partnerships to implement strategies in 
church-wide communications and improved services to 
congregations was announced at a recent benefit dinner for the 
Atlanta-based Episcopal Media Center, an independent non-profit 
organization that serves Episcopal clergy and parishes. The 
event drew representatives from the Dioceses of New York and 
Long Island, staff from the Episcopal Church Center, the General 
Theological Seminary and Morehouse Publishing.

"Many of us who worked together recently to produce the 
stewardship education resource, Living with Money, now realize 
that any vision of the future in church communications must be 
reflected in a new spirit of collaboration," said the Rev. Louis 
Schueddig, executive director of the Media Center. "Too many of 
us have worked alone, under-funded, often competing with our own 
brothers and sisters in Christ, and simply not getting much 
accomplished."

The first copy of the stewardship resource was presented to 
Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold at the event. The video-based 
curriculum is the result of substantial collaboration over the 
last few years among various Episcopal agencies and ministries. 
They worked together in a task force that included national 
church offices of stewardship, media services and communication, 
as well as several independent agencies such as Morehouse 
Publishing, the Episcopal Network for Stewardship, the Episcopal 
Church Foundation, the Seabury Institute, and Seabury-Western 
Theological Seminary.

UN Human Rights Commission hears about persecution in 
Pakistan

(ENI) The World Council of Churches, joined by major Roman 
Catholic organizations and a peace and justice group, has told a 
meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights about 
religious intolerance and discrimination in Pakistan. They 
focused particularly on laws that can bring a death sentence for 
those found guilty of blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed.

In an April 11 submission, the groups said that such laws 
promote "a culture of intolerance, division and extremism" that 
could result in "religious intolerance and violence against 
Christians, Hindus, and members of the Ahmadiye community," an 
Islamic movement rejected by orthodox Islam.

Even though the definition of blasphemy is vague, it carries a 
mandatory death sentence and minorities are often falsely 
accused, the group said, and used by "extremist elements to 
settle personal scores against religious minorities." As a 
result, "many of the accused are killed, in some cases even 
before they are brought to trial."  The group also said that "it 
has become virtually impossible to get a fair hearing" for those 
charged under the laws.

In their submission to the commission, the groups said that 
sectarian violence in Pakistan has increased in recent years. 
"Since September 11, 2001, there have been eight serious 
incidents targeting Christian institutions and their members, 
killing 43 Christians and injuring many."

They called on the government of Pakistan to repeal "all 
discriminatory laws," including the blasphemy laws; ratify the 
human rights treaties not yet ratified; invite the UN Special 
Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to visit Pakistan; 
and "take even stronger measures to protect the lives, property, 
respect and honour of minorities."

In addition to the WCC, the groups included Dominicans for 
Justice and Peace,and Franciscans International, as well as the 
Pakistan Justice and Peace Commission of Religious Men and 
Women, and the Pakistan Commission of Catholic Bishops.

Easter messages from Jerusalem--end Palestinian suffering

(ENI) In their Easter messages, the Christian leaders of 
churches in Jerusalem reflect on the war in Iraq and repeat 
their pleas for an end to Palestinian suffering.

The Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of the Holy Land, Michel 
Sabbah, issued a warning about the consequences of the war in 
Iraq, urging the international community to find ways to "limit" 
the use of power and act "to save humanity from the threat of 
new world wars." He said that "the positive which will come from 
this  war, we are waiting to see. What we have seen so far is 
war and more evil to the people of Iraq after this war. Instead 
of having freedom, they have anarchy and confusion." Sabbah 
pointed to the suffering of the people under 12 years of 
international sanctions. 

Christians take heart from the Easter story and their belief in 
the Resurrection, said the patriarch, a Palestinian and the 
highest ranking Catholic in the Holy Land. "Therefore we keep 
hoping that one day the Holy Land will be for all its 
inhabitants, a land of Resurrection and no more a land of death 
and hatred." He expressed hopes that the so-called "road map" 
for peace created by the United States, the European Union, 
Russia and the United Nations may yet provide a solution because 
it calls for a Palestinian state by 2005.

"If the road map gives back to the Palestinians their rights, 
their freedom, their dignity, it can work," he said. "The 
question is whether the Israelis will accept the road map. This 
is a positive proposition to bring and end to the conflict."

The Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem, Munib Younan, also focused on 
the war and the plight of Palestinians, describing the war as 
one of the "huge and heavy stones" that had been placed in the 
way of peace. He said that the war "is creating a big divide 
between cultures. What will happen with Christian-Muslim 
relations that we have built for a long time? No wonder we are 
filled with hopelessness. Just when we thought we had succeeded 
in bringing mutual understanding among cultures and 
civilizations, we see this huge stone in front of us," he said. 

During his Palm Sunday trip to Jerusalem, Archbishop of 
Canterbury Rowan Williams said that, as a result of the 
suffering and fear among Palestinians in recent months, "there 
is small hope of lasting reconciliation in the wider world. And 
now, with the repercussions of military action in Iraq still 
echoing around the region, new fears have been aroused in the 
hearts of many."

Williams said that at Easter Christians should pray "that those 
who hold power may know how to take the risk of giving it away 
for the sake of greater peace and those who have no power may 
take the risk of stepping out of helpless resentment into 
something new."

Liberian church leaders warn of military and humanitarian 
crisis

(CWS) Liberian church leaders are pleading for help from the 
international community as the nation faces a worsening military 
and humanitarian crisis provoked by renewed intensive fighting 
in its 13-year-old civil war that is displacing thousands of 
people every week.

"The world must not watch the death of the rest of us," said the 
Rev. Kortu Brown, director of Concerned Christian Community, a 
faith-based humanitarian service organization. "We need 
immediate food aid to avert any starvation that may result from 
thousands of people running from fighting."

"The situation is deplorable and pathetic," added Benjamin Dorme 
Lartey, general secretary of the Liberian Council of Churches, 
"and there is urgent need to respond to the people, particularly 
the women and children and the elderly."

Church World Service (CWS), the relief and development agency of 
the National Council of Churches, has called for a firm date for 
peace talks, scheduled for Mali in mid-April but postponed, and 
greater engagement of the U.S. government--especially a role of 
intervention and support for international participation in 
elections. CWS is airlifting blankets, health kits and food to 
help the Liberians meet some of the immediate needs in camps 
that provide temporary shelter.

CWS is raising funds to support two special outreach programs 
for women refugees and returnees who have been victims of rape 
and other abuse, as well as a YMCA leadership training program 
for 1,600 displaced children and youth.

The Liberian Council of Churches "is gravely concerned at the 
escalation of the fighting and the formation of new fighting 
groups which will only bring more hardship to the already 
suffering people of Liberia," the council said in an April 9 
statement. The council is also worried about the delays in the 
peace talks.

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